a very crisp weekend

Last weekend saw our first real burst of cold weather. After a week of rainy weather it was a nice change.

Saturday was Husband Guy's birthday so we started the day with presents and some very yummy pancakes. We were lucky enough to have a night out sans children so we chose dinner at a local recently re-opened French restaurant. Yummy wine, good company.

The next day we went for a quick walk with the kids and fur kids. We are lucky to live opposite a gorgeous tract of bushland, which you can walk through to access the local mega shopping centre. The best of both worlds. On a crisp but sunny Sunday it was very picturesque.

Once home from our walk we did a little vege gardening, planting some peas, strawberries and baby spinach. We even found/harvested some very small but cute potatoes in one of the beds.

budget meals - leftover chicken and vege rice

As part of my budget meals series I've been asking some of my friends for their best recipes so I can share them here with you.

Today's recipe comes from my good friend Sarah who blogs at Travelling with Ana as well as her food blog the Leaping Zucchini. Sarah is an expat New Zealander now living in Portland, Oregan. She is a mum to two littlies and worked for many years in the fruit and vege industry. Currently Sarah is studying a PhD in Collaborative Innovation in Agribusiness.

This is one of our favourite ways to use up left over chicken and veges. It's a one-pan, quick cook meal that's a hit with both the kids and my husband so I always roast more chicken than we can eat in one night to make sure I have enough leftover for this.

To make it: pan fry and onion and a clove or two of garlic until transparent then cover with a litre of chicken stock. Add about a cup to a cup and a half of rice and bring to the boil. When the rice is about half to three quarters cooked add frozen veges (Iused carrots, corn peas and beans), then fresh veges (Iused red and orange capsicum and celery) then lastly, just as the rice is almost done, add the leftover cooked chicken so it's reheated in the mix. If the chicken is well seasoned then there may be no need to add anything else, otherwise salt, pepper, oregano and thyme are favourites to flavour it up. Enjoy!

Thanks Sarah! I can't wait to try it. I would think if you really wanted to make it a quick meal you could use a cooked chicken from the supermarket. Or roast up some chicken thighs or drumsticks and use them instead.

Lena's chair makeover - Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

It's chalk paint a-go-go around here at the moment.
My friend Lena at Happy Little Queenslander was working on a very cute little piano stool which she was also going to reupholster in Thea and Sami fabric.

I've done a little upholstery in the past so I offered to help Lena with that part. Fair to say we were both pretty stoked with the result. Here is the finished product (minus a little braiding to cover the staples on the cushion). Lena will be posting a full wrap up of the chair makeover on her blog soon so make sure you check it out :)

kitchen chair makeover - Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

**This is not a sponsored post. I purchased the paint and this is my honest opinion**

I've been hearing a lot across all forms of social media recently about Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. I had banned myself from investigating it as I had a lot on the go - but when I finished those two crochet blankets the other week I took a little look. The basic gist is that this paint goes on ANYTHING.

I've been refurbishing our kitchen chairs for nearly as long as we've owned them. At least 10 years. We had sucessfully done the table years before but never quite got the chairs right. We initially wanted to sand them back all the way and clear varnish them like the table. Then a couple of years ago I conceded that there were just too many layers of paint and too much time would be involved in sanding to wood so I decided they would be painted. Then a few months ago again I decided that I would paint them each a different colour. I go so far as to buy 4 different coloured paints and ask for a sander for Christmas.

Cut a long story short I got so far as to paint one chair grey. When I heard that the Chalk Paint would go on ANYTHING without any prep I decided to give it a whirl. I headed over to my local stockist and purchased the Paris Grey paint and the Soft Wax.

I decided to really test this paint out so I set it some fairly tough challenges. Dirty chairs with many layers of glossy paint, some chairs half sanded, big chips of paint missing.

After the first chair it become clear to me that I wasn't going to get the really sharp, glossy finish I had originally had in mind. Instead the paint is flat matte and then you add a soft sheen (and waterproofing) with the wax. I embraced my inner Karate Kid and 'wax on, wax off' I buffed the chair to a lovely sheen.

In the end I have embraced the product. To purchase the paint and wax is not cheap. But it does go a long way. And the savings you will make on time (prepping, sanding, drying) more than make up for it. You don't have to have super big muscles to buff the wax either, just a decent cloth. I even embraced a bit of the "Shabby Chic" look by giving the chairs a light sand to reveal some of the old paint colours and wood below. I actually like this as it reminds me of my Grandparents (the previous owners) and the original lives of the chairs.

Hopefully in the next couple of months you will see me tackle a MUCH bigger project with this paint.... stay tuned....

budget meals - homemade muesli bars

I can't take credit for this recipe, a Mum at school relayed it to me (hi Belinda) and I've adapted it from there. These muesli bars are yummy and can be adapted to your individual taste or needs. Our school is nut free so we can't send store bought muesli bars for morning tea. By making my own though I can control what goes into them and cater them to the Little Guy's tastes.





You will need
3 cups of rolled oats
1 tin of condensed milk
2-3 cups of other stuff such as pepitas, sunflower seeds, dried fruits, quinoa, chia, cocnut, nuts etc. The list is endless.

Mix your ingredients together ensuring everything is incorporated. Press into a baking paper lined brownie tin and bake at about 160 degrees C for about 30 - 40 mins. I like it when they go quite and dark around the edges and crispy whereas little Guy prefers the softer ones from the middle of the pan.

I've started making two batches, one for the little Guy for school with no nuts and one for Husband Guy to take to work which includes nuts.

So far I have tried Apricot and Coconut, Cranberry, Fig and Almond. I usually include sunflower seeds and pepitas to every one.

There you go, quite cheap to make and fairly healthy little crunchy and sweet snack. Suitable for school lunch boxes and to have with morning coffee.

two crochet blankets finished!

I love a good finish. Last week I was a determined lady and I finshed two blankets which had both been hanging around for a while - 3 and 6 months. One was a Christmas present for my in-laws who had been very patiently waiting. The other was a new born baby gift for friends.



The baby blanket was my first attempt at a ripple and I did really enjoy it but it was quite time consuming and yarn heavy. Looks gorgeous though.




The other was a giant granny square in 4 colours. I do like giant granny squares but at you get to the final massive rows it does get a bit tiresome. I finished it in a row of treble crochets and it gave it a nice edge.






I think the next blanket I try will be a cross between the two. A granny stripe or granny ripple. Less heavy on the yarn but done in short rows to keep it interesting! As a treat to myself I crocheted a mandala, something I had wanted to try but couldn't start until I had a couple of finishes under my belt.

a few little changes

You have probably noticed a few little housekeeping changes around here lately. I've had a little bit of advertising and will hopefully be having a bit more.

Most significantly though I joined the Simply Crochet affiliate program. What this means for you is you can subscribe to Simply Crochet or any of the other My Favourite Magazine titles (such as Mollie Makes) just by clicking on the link in the side bar here on the blog. They will also be sending me special offers and discount codes exclusively for my readers! And as a bonus for me I do receive a little payment each time one of you lovely readers subscribes to a magazine via my blog.

I hope you don't mind the addition of this advertising to my blog. Maybe I can get a little pocket money from it and I will endeavour to bring you more content and relevant advertising only. :)